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Ex-Egyptian football legend jailed 4-days for assaulting photographer

Hossam Hassan, a former Egyptian football star has been found guilty of assaulting a photographer during scuffles between players of opposing teams at the end of a match last week. He is to spend four days in custody beginning Tuesday.

The charges brought against Hossam according to AFP were “aggression and blows to an official in the performance of his duties.” The Al-Masry manager is to spend the jail term together with his assistant Hassan Moustafa, and the Executive Director of the club Walid Badr, who were also found guilty of the same charges.

It all started with a match last Friday between the clubs al-Masry and Ghazl el-Mahalla in Ismailia, a city east of Cairo. During the fixture, clashes broke out on the field between players.

It was during the violence that Hossam Hassan assaulted a photographer who was taking pictures of the event. The photographer was actually an agent of the Ministry of Interior who later filed a complaint against Hossam Hassan and the other two members of the Al-Masry staff.

Besides custody, the former captain of the Egyptian national team was ordered to pay a fine of 10,000 Egyptian pounds (about 1,000 euros) and will refrain from participating in the next three games of his club.

The club was also fined 20,000 Egyptian pounds (about 2,000 euros) for the incident; as was decided by the Egyptian Football Federation on Saturday.

Hossam Hassan remains a legend for north African nation. The 49-year-old former star striker of Al-Ahly and Zamalek – the leading clubs in the country – currently holds the record for most goals in the shirt of the national team (176 caps, 69 goals). Before Ahmed Hassan exceeded it, he also held the record selections in national team (176).